Responding to depression
The death by suicide of Kate Spade, followed by Anthony Bourdain, within the same week brought into focus issues of mental health and our society’s readiness to help those struggling with depression, anxiety, and other consequences of modern stress.
To the public, both Spade and Bourdain epitomized accomplishments and success. Their unexpected passing away has been subjected to scrutiny and speculation, which, for the public welfare, must be directed to understanding, reaching out, and assisting persons made vulnerable by mental health issues.
Depression and its consequences was the focus on April 7, 2017, observed as World Health Day and the founding anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to an article uploaded on “MIMS Today,” the website of the pharmaceutical reference guide Monthly Index of Medical Specialties, depression is a mental disorder that affects all people, with WHO studies establishing that all experience depression at “some point in their life.”
Associated with “sadness, loss of interest, feelings of guilt, low self-worth, disturbed sleep, (lost) appetite, tiredness, and poor concentration,” depression can be “long-lasting or recurrent.”
As the “second leading contributor to ill health,” depression “may lead to suicide that may eventually end to death,” the Department of Health (DOH) said in a statement quoted by the “MIMS Today” article.
Some misconceptions prevail, such as the perception that the young are the most vulnerable to depression.
While the WHO estimates that “suicide associated with depression is the second leading cause of death among people aged 15-29,” some studies show that there is an emerging trend of depression affecting the Filipino elderly.
Of 2,500 cases of suicide monitored in 2012, 2,000 cases were male and the rest, female, according to the DOH’s National Center for Mental Health.
The figures monitoring depression and selfharm or suicide may even be underreported due to ignorance and stigma. The danger is highest when people fail to recognize and respond to the symptoms of depression, which can worsen to self-harm or suicide, pointed out psychiatrist Dr. Reynaldo Lesaca, a National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) consultant quoted in the same “MIMS Today” article.
While younger people are more vulnerable to bullying and its online version through social media, older people also have to cope with social expectations that presume they are more mature to handle stress, which prevents them from reaching out and seeking help.
“Anthony Bourdain was almost inconceivably high-functioning; the gap between public triumph and private despair is treacherous,” wrote “The New Yorker” writer Andrew Solomon in a June 9 article published online.
“The pattern of highly accomplished and successful people committing suicide is transfixing. It assures the rest of us that a life of accolades is not all that it’s cracked up to be and that achieving more will not make us happier. At the same time, it reveals the fact that no one is safe….”
Recognising the vulnerability of a relative may not even be enough. Michael attempted suicide twice by slashing his wrists; his family detected these attempts in time and saved him on those two occasions. On the third try, when he hanged himself in his room at home, he was successful.
How can Filipinos be prepared to respond to others’ depression and suicide when the country’s resources for meeting mental crises are inadequate?
There is one psychiatrist estimated for every 250,000 in the population, which should ideally be one psychiatrist for every 50,000, according to the DOH. There are 12 mental health facilities nationwide, which can accommodate 200-300 patients, according to “MIMS Today.”
While there is a phone-based hotline HOPELINE available 24/7, more mental health programs should reach communities and families that must intervene in time to help someone escape depression and its consequences.